Empress Wu was also known as Wu Hou, Wu Chao, Wu Zetian, or Wu Tsê T'ien. She was born and raised in China during the Tang dynasty. Empress Wu was the daughter of Wu Shih-Huo, a rich and noble merchant at the time. The Tang Dynasty was a time of relative freedom for woman. Since Empress Wu lived during that period of time, she was well educated at home. Lastly, like most other rich and noble people of her time, she was taught to play music, write, and read the Chinese classics. .
In addition, Empress Wu started out as a low-ranking concubine of the emperor of the Tang court, T'ai Tsung. She was well known for her beauty, wit, and intelligence, and so that was why she was recruited to the Tang court at the early age of 13. It was the year of 638 AD when she was recruited. Soon after she was recruited to the Tang court, she went from a low-ranking concubine to his favorite concubine. When T'ai Tsung died in 652 AD, Empress Wu mourned his death and traditionally, she shaved off all her hair and became a nun. Meanwhile, in the Tang court after T'ai Tsung's death, T'ai Tsung's son, Gaozong, became the emperor of the Tang court. Gaozong 's empress, Empress Wang, was jealous of a new concubine that Gaozong gave much affection to. Her name was Hsaio Shu-Fei. She then ordered Empress Wu to grow her hair back and come back to the Tang court. She did what she was told and came back. Empress Wang's plan was to take away the affection that Kao Tsung gave to Hsaio Shu-Fei. Empress Wang's plan worked, but it also backfired on her. Empress Wu got Gaozong's affection, but still, Empress Wang was not satisfied because she still didn't get any affection. So then Empress Wang became jealous of Empress Wu and tried to get rid of her as well. .
Furthermore, Empress Wang's jealousy grew when Empress Wu gave birth to a baby girl for Gaozong. Empress Wang panicked and tried to spread rumors about Empress Wu, but Empress Wu was too clever for that.